Conventional multimedia audio/video recording devices, such as camcorders, commonly employ relatively expensive directional microphones for stereo recording of audio events. Such directional microphones have directional beamform patterns with respect to an axis, and the orientation or directionality of the microphones' beamforms can be changed or steered so that the beamform points or is oriented toward a particular direction where the user wants to record sound events.
Notwithstanding these advances in audio/video recording devices, it can be impractical to implement directional microphones in other types of portable electronic devices that include audio and video recording functionality. Examples of such portable electronic devices include, for example, digital wireless cellular phones and other types of wireless communication devices, personal digital assistants, digital cameras, video recorders, etc.
These portable electronic devices include one or more microphones that can be used to acquire and/or record audio information from a subject or subjects that is/are being recorded. In some cases, two microphones are provided on opposite ends of the device (e.g., located near the right-side and left-side of the device) so that when the device is used for audio/video acquisition the microphones are positioned for recording one or more subject(s).
The number of microphones that can be included in such devices can be limited due to the physical structure and relatively small size of such devices. Cost is another constraint that can make it impractical to integrate additional microphones in such devices for the sole purpose of multimedia acquisition and/or recording. This is particularly true with regard to directional microphones because they tend to be more expensive and more difficult to package than omnidirectional microphones. Additionally, the microphones in these types of devices have to serve multiple use cases such as private voice calls, speakerphone calls, environmental noise pickup, multimedia recording, etc. As a result, device manufacturers will often implement less expensive omnidirectional microphones. In short, the space and/or cost of adding additional microphone elements is a factor that weighs against inclusion of more than two microphones in a device.
At the same time, it is desirable to provide stereo recording features that can be used with such portable electronics devices so that an operator can record sound events with stereo characteristics.
Accordingly, there is an opportunity to provide portable electronic devices having the capability to acquire stereo audio information using two microphones that are located at or near different ends/sides of the portable electronic device. It is also desirable to provide methods and systems within such devices to enable stereo acquisition or recording of audio sources consistent with a video frame being acquired regardless of the distance between those audio sources and the device. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.